


Along the Way

by traintrackstonowhere



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Bending, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance, Royalty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-22
Updated: 2015-07-24
Packaged: 2018-04-10 14:50:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4396100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/traintrackstonowhere/pseuds/traintrackstonowhere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asami meets Korra when Korra moves in next door to her and although she doesn't have time between school, work, and her father for what seems to be happening between the two of them, she doesn't appear to have a choice.</p><p> </p><p>*Summary may change. I'm struggling.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Existence

**Author's Note:**

> This story starts of with Asami/Iroh II, but bear with me. It won't be for long.  
> Currently rated T, which may change.
> 
> Not beta'ed so beware of silly mistakes.
> 
> Please give it a try and let me know what you think. Any and all feedback is welcomed and appreciated. You can also find me on Tumblr under the same name (just be aware that it's not a Korrasami/LOK exclusive blog).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A (typical?) day in the life of Asami Sato.

Tuesday morning dawned cooler than usual for this time of year in Republic City. As Asami strapped the final pieces of her jacket on she thought about how busy of a day she had ahead of her, starting with school, which she was going to be late for if she didn’t hurry up. Glancing at the clock above her fireplace she grabbed her keys off the counter and headed out the door. She brought her phone out of her pocket to confirm her coffee date with Iroh later and walked briskly toward the stairs.

A few clouds hung above and the smog from the big city kept the sky out of focus. It was cold at the moment, but it would be warm and muggy by mid-afternoon. Asami was glad that she had chosen one of her lighter jackets even though she was a little chilly currently. She locked the door behind her and headed towards the stairs. As she was about to begin her descent she noticed a pair of gentlemen carrying a couch up towards her. She paused at the top, waiting for them to continue up the stairs.

 _I wonder who’s moving in_ , she thought to herself as she glanced back, looking around her floor for any clue. The door next to hers was open (how had she not noticed that) and she assumed that was probably where the new tenant was moving in. She hoped they weren’t loud. She had enough trouble concentrating on her blueprints and designs with her neighbors on the other side whose kid hadn’t quite figured out that he didn’t need to yell to be heard.

The men finally passed her and after nodding to them she headed down the stairs quickly on the way to the parking lot and her scooter. She had class in 20 minutes. Hopefully there wasn’t much traffic, but even if there was Asami was confident she could get there on time. Although, she glanced down at her watch one final time, it may be exactly on time.

Mounting her scooter she saw the truck that was unloading her new neighbor's things. There was one more man standing and talking to someone in the truck. Asami wondered if he was the new neighbor, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it. With one final glance at the truck she took off in the direction of the university.

\-----

Asami weaved in and out between the traffic toward Republic City University. She passed by the docks, with their large cargo ships and small shipping boats, and through the financial district, passing by Future Industries tower on her way through the city. Satomobiles drove next to and around her with people heading into work and beginning their days. After 22 years in the city, Asami was used to the quick pace of life there. She pulled into the parking garage near the engineering building, locked up her scooter, tightened the straps on her backpack and walked towards the door of the building.

She sat down in her usual seat at the end of the fourth row and took out her notebook and a pen. Most of the students around her were pulling out laptops, but she found that if she didn’t write the notes herself she retained less. It didn’t matter as much for this class since she had already learned most of this stuff in her own exploration of engineering, but one never knew when something learned would come in handy.

Once the class finished she packed up and began the walk across campus to the university coffee shop to meet Iroh. They had gone to this coffee shop often over the course of the nine months that they had been together. Iroh was the first serious relationship she had had. Prior to him there were a few people who she went out with, but nothing ever seemed to take. 

After she turned 18 her dad had begun pushing her to find something more serious. _“You can’t keep bringing a different person to every event. It’s not the image of the family that we want to present to the city,”_ he had said. Iroh had been a family friend for a while. The son of the royal family in a neighboring nation, he had been introduced to Asami by her father. They hit it off well enough Asami had thought and so they had started dating.

At this point Asami was content. Iroh treated her well, but after nine months she found that she still didn’t love him. Not that this was a requirement at this point, but she felt like she should at least have begun to move in the direction of that at this point and she hadn’t. She wasn’t unhappy, but she could remember the love that her mother and father had once shared and she couldn’t imagine ever loving Iroh like that.

A bell rang as she opened the door to the coffee shop. She didn’t glance around as she headed to the counter and ordered her usual drink. Waiting for the order she looked toward their usual table. Iroh was sitting with his head down scrolling through his phone. It looked like he hadn’t seen her yet. Hearing her name she grabbed her drink and moved to sit across from him.

She took a sip from her drink, waiting for him to notice her presence. A moment later he glanced up, his eyebrows raising slightly as he did. “Hi,” Asami said glancing past him as the coffee shop door opened.

“Hey,” he replied, looking at her for a moment and then when she didn’t immediately speak going back to scrolling through his phone. Asami looked back until the silence became more uncomfortable than companionable. Recently it always seemed to get this way between them. She wasn’t sure when they ran out of things to talk about but they had.

“How has your morning been?” she asked, taking another sip of her coffee.

He looked up from his screen for a moment. “Alright. And yours?”

“It was ok. I was almost late for class because someone is moving into the apartment next to me.” Asami stated, trying to start a conversation.

“Oh, really? At least you made it on time,” answered Iroh glancing up to her momentarily before continuing what he was doing. Asami sighed reaching down to take out her latest design to continue fine tuning the propulsion system. She had a few hours to kill and since this was as good a place as any to spend them she started to work. 

\-----

Asami pulled her scooter into her parking spot in the garage of the Future Industries tower. She did not necessarily have any explicit responsibilities today, but after spending time with Iroh she felt like she needed to get her hands moving and the best place to do that was the garage.

She took the stairs two at a time, stopping to ask the employee in the foyer about how his kids were doing (They were just starting school again.), and then heading into the elevator to make her way to the basement. The doors opened to reveal a huge warehouse-like room. She convinced her father to let her customize the basement space of the tower to house her inventions and anything she was working on.  
As she started walking towards the back corner and her current project her assistant, Zhu Li, approached her with her tablet and drafting materials.

“Good Afternoon, Ms. Sato,” she said as she fell into step with with Asami.

“I’ve told you, just Asami is fine.” 

“Ok… Asami. I have a message for you from your father.” Asami shut her eyes for a moment longer then necessary. Zhu Li did not continue as she glanced at Asami waiting for the ok to pass along her message.

They continued to the back corner in silence where a half assembled engine hung from chains. A toolbox meticulously organized was sitting nearby. Asami set her tablet and papers on the waist-high table to the left of the tool set and turned to face Zhu Li.

“Alright,” she said, resigned.

Zhu Li passed the message along, speaking quickly and clearly “Your father has expressed a desire to meet with you to continue the discussion that was begun last week.” Asami’s brow hardened as she continued. “He knows that he requested that you reconsider your stance and he would like to know the result.”

“My stance hasn’t changed. You can let him know that there’s no need to discuss any further.”

“But, Asami, he…”

Asami cut her off. “I know and it doesn’t change my thoughts on the matter. If you’re not comfortable letting him know don’t worry about it. He’ll know that I haven’t changed my mind if he doesn’t hear from me. Thank you for passing along the message Zhu Li. I’m sorry he pulled you from your other work. Please let me know if you need anything further from me.” As she finished speaking Asami turned to retrieve her tablet and began an intricate combination of keystrokes to bring up her digital renderings and begin her work, sparing Zhu Li no further attention.

Zhu Li stood for a moment looking as if she might have more to say and then turned and walked swiftly back to her original location.

Asami’s shoulders fell as Zhu Li retreated and she took a deep breath. She knew that she was going to have to address that more directly in the future, but at the moment she didn’t want to worry about it. She set down her tablet and went to work. Requiring all of her concentration and the movement of her hands, her work allowed her to clear her mind, refocus, and attempt to forget about her father for a bit.

\-----

It was dark as Asami walked up the stairs towards her apartment, exhausted. She had made some good headway on the system she was working on and she was excited to hopefully have it ready in the next couple months for production. As she reached the top of the stairs she noticed that her neighbor's door was cracked open. As she passed she glanced quickly in and saw a sparsely furnished living space with what looked like a large white rug lying across the front walkway.

Suddenly the rug began to move. Asami stopped in shock as the large white beast came barreling out the door at her. “Naga!” a voice yelled from within.

Asami threw her arms up to her face to defend herself as she heard a loud thump and muted cursing from the apartment. She was surprised when she wasn’t immediately attacked. She slowly opened her eyes and looked down at a large dog that was now sniffing at her pants and boots. “Hello…” she said hesitantly to the creature who barked timidly as it continued to explore.

Asami looked up as the apartment door opened the rest of the way revealing her new neighbor who immediately grabbed the collar of what could be concluded was a dog. The first thing Asami noticed were the girls eyes. They were watering ( _Maybe caused by the thump I just heard_ , thought Asami.) her brow was furrowed in order to attempt to stop them from continuing, but this could not stop Asami from noticing the color. They were bright blue and her breath stopped momentarily as she tried to register where she had seen the color before. After a few moments of silently going through her catalog of blues she came to the quick conclusion that this specific shade she had never seen before and in addition, it was the most striking she had ever come across. 

As this conclusion faded (but not the color) from her head, she began to look at the rest of the girl's face and noticed that she was talking. Not knowing how long she had been breathlessly staring she attempted to pick up on what the girl was saying.

“… doesn’t normally do this, but we’re new and she likes to meet everyone and I forgot to close the door when I came in because I was carrying so much stuff and …”

“It’s ok,” Asami chuckled, watching as the girl stopped mid-breath, her cheeks reddening. Asami could tell she would have continued to talk until Asami fell asleep on her feet if she hadn’t stopped her.

“I don’t mind. She didn’t hurt me.” Asami smiled, drawing a similar, but shy smile from the girl. “I think I saw you moving in this morning. I’m Asami. I live right next door.” She pointed to her door as she spoke and watched as the girl turned her head, drawing Asami’s eyes down her neck to her shoulders and finally down her muscular arms and hands which were still holding the dog’s collar.

The girl cleared her throat quietly and Asami’s eyes were brought quickly back to her face. The girl was smiling crookedly at her and Asami could feel her cheeks heat. “I’m Korra.” the girl smirked. “And it’s nice to meet you, Asami.”

“You as well.” said Asami, smiling and beginning to walk in the direction of her apartment. “Have a good evening, Korra,” she called over her shoulder, unlocking her door as she attempted to prevent further embarrassment.

As the door shut behind her Asami thought about how much she appreciated that new color of blue and how much she liked the way her name sounded when said by her new neighbor.


	2. Divergence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami continues to avoid everything. Or at least she tries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit shorter than the first chapter, but I decided to split it up a bit differently. Should have 3 and 4 out by the end of the day tomorrow.

Asami woke to her alarm before the sun had come up over the bay. Stretching her arms above her head and reaching to check her phone before she went to shower and get ready. She had a voicemail from her father from even earlier in the morning and after a moment of hesitation she began to play it, bracing herself for what she was anticipating she’d hear.

 _Asami,_ her father’s voice came through the speaker as she moved into the bathroom and set the phone on the counter. _I don’t appreciate you ignoring my request to meet yesterday. I know that you understand how important you are to the future of this company and it is time that you begin to fulfill that role full time. Come by my office when you get here today. We need to discuss the gala next month where we will present you more formally._

Her father disconnected suddenly and Asami looked at herself in the mirror, noticing her grimace and the lackluster look of her usually vibrantly green eyes. _How long had she looked like this?_ , she wondered. She undressed quickly without delving too deep into the answer to that question, quickly showered, and moved out the door locking it behind her.

As she headed quickly down the stairs she almost ran head first into none other than her new neighbor, Korra (a name she wasn’t sure she would ever forget.). “Sorry” Korra muttered as she took one of her headphones out smiling at Asami.

“It’s ok. I wasn't paying very close attention,” Asami choked out as she got a full look at Korra. She had obviously been working out – cheeks flushed, chest heaving, only a sports bra and spandex on, and her body covered in sweat. Asami swallowed and attempted to return Korra’s smile.

“No worries! Have a good day!” Korra said as she continued up the stairs quickly. Asami turned to see what looked like a tattoo on Korra’s back, mumbling “You too,” as the girl moved into her apartment and closed the door.

Asami stood for a moment on the stairs, momentarily forgetting where she was running off to in the first place. Last night she had thought Korra was muscular, but no one should have abs like that. How is that even possible? Asami shook her head and turned to continue down the stairs and off to school.

\-----

Asami walked into the Future Industries tower at her usual time and headed directly for her workshop. It was one of her busier days and she was ready to bury herself in her work. As she entered the garage she almost walked directly into Zhu Li.

“What are you doing?” Asami’s words had more bite than she intended, but she was surprised. Zhu Li glanced nervously over her shoulder.

“Your father is here.” Asami’s eyebrows rose. “At your work station. He’s been waiting there for the last hour.”

Asami cursed under her breath and pulled at one of the straps on her jacket. "He told me to meet him in his office." She looked at Zhu Li as if expecting an answer.

"He came in and said he expected that you would attempt to avoid him again because you hadn't returned his call. He decided to wait for you hear instead."

Asami grimaced and then, giving a quick nod to Zhu Li, turned on her heel and headed back out the door. It looked like she would be working in the university library today instead.

\-----

Asami stumbled into her apartment near midnight. She had stayed in the library as long as she could. Finally leaving as she realized that she had been attempting to draw the same piston for the better part of an hour. After 8 missed calls and twice as many texts as she worked, she had turned off her phone in order to attempt to concentrate. It didn't work as well as she had hoped, but at least she hadn't had to deal with any specific person.

Stripping off her clothes and throwing on one of her favorite sets of pajamas she laid down in bed and closed her eyes. After lying for a few moments she thought she heard what sounded like singing, but it was muted. She opened her eyes and glanced around realizing that it was coming from the apartment next to her. She smiled to herself as she realized that Korra was singing. From what Asami could hear her voice was nice, maybe not professional, but nice. Asami relaxed back on to her pillows and listened for a bit before reaching over to the nightstand to grab her phone in order to set her alarm and resigned to see who had been attempting to contact her all afternoon.

As expected most of the texts were from her father. She deleted those without looking at them and proceeded to delete his voicemails for good measure. She already knew what he had to say and she didn't have the patience currently to hear it again. Continuing on there were also a couple of messages from Zhu Li about leaving her to fend for herself against Asami’s father. Asami felt bad about doing that, but she didn’t have an option. She hadn’t anticipated that her father would invade her space and she hadn’t had a plan ready for it. This meant that she had left Zhu Li to deal with her father’s annoyance after she left. _I’ll have to get her something. He's the worst when he's like that._ Asami thought bitterly as she proceeded to read the last message on her phone which was from Iroh.

 **Iroh:** Hey babe, thought we should go out on Friday. Semi-formal dress. I’ll see you at 7.

Asami scrunched her nose as she read the text. This didn’t really seem like she had a choice in whether they were going out or not. She sighed as she typed out her affirmative response. Given that they hadn’t really gone on a date in the last month or so, far be it from her to ruin that for him when he seemed to be taking the initiative and being thoughtful, if not a bit forceful. A nice night out could be the perfect end to this stressful week.

Asami plugged in and set her phone back in it's place. Flipping off the light and pulling the covers up as she turned over, she eventually fell into a fitful sleep.


	3. Eventualities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami talks to Korra and later to Iroh. Neither conversation goes exactly as expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. Family stuff got crazy.

Asami pulled into the apartment parking lot, securing her scooter. She walked towards the front office in order to check her mail and as she approached she recognized Korra opening her own mailbox. Asami quickened her step and moved to stand next to Korra quietly. “Hi,” Asami said cheerily as she inserted her key into her own mailbox.

Korra jumped almost comically and clutched at her chest. “Jeez Asami, you could've killed me.”

“I hope not,” Asami smiled looking over into blue eyes. “How was your day?”

“Good. Well, ok… I had to go over to the university to talk to them about some issues with my transfer in.”

Asami pulled the mail from her box. “What are you studying?”

“Political science with a focus in international studies” Korra smiled crookedly.

“What do you want to do with that?” As Asami finished her sentence Korra quickly turned toward her mailbox and finished locking it, but not before Asami saw her face fall somewhat. _Was that the wrong thing to ask?_ Asami wondered as her face fell too.

She continued to look at Korra watching her hands clenching and her breathing speed up, waiting to see if she would answer. When it seemed as if Korra had forgotten that something had been said, Asami cleared her throat and said quickly “I’m studying engineering. It’s my third year.”

Korra looked up gratefully. “O, uh.. That’s cool. Was that where you were coming back from?”

Asami shook her head, pursing her lips. “No I worked today. I’m already an engineer of sorts so I do that when I’m not in school.”

Korra nodded. “Did it go well?”

Asami grimaced. “Not really. I’m struggling to figure out the exact angle that I need to install this specific component on the system in order to optimize the…” She watched as Korra’s eyes seemed to glaze over. “Well, it doesn’t really matter I guess,” she shrugged. “But no, not great.”

Korra smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, but you totally lost me. I’m sure you’ll figure it out though. You seem really passionate about it.”

“I usually love it, but recently I’ve sort of wanted to just curl up with some hot tea and a book and forget about it for awhile.” Asami attempted to chuckle and Korra smiled in response.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll have a breakthrough soon. I can't really tell, but it seems like you know your stuff.” Korra smiled warmly and Asami couldn’t help smiling back.

“Thanks.” she said turning to go up the stairs as Korra followed. Asami turned as she unlocked her door. “It was nice to talk to you Korra.”

Korra nodded, smiling wide as she opened her door and closed it quickly behind her.

\-----

It was just before 7 pm on Friday while Asami was putting the finishing touches on her make-up that her phone went off.

 **Iroh:** I’m outside

Asami threw her phone into her purse, and checked her appearance in the mirror one last time. She had put on one of her more modest dresses, which had thin straps over both shoulders and fell to just above her knees. It was a dark red to match her nail polish and she had thrown on some black heels and a few gold bracelets to complete the look. She grabbed her keys of the counter and headed out the door and down the stairs.

Iroh was waiting in the parking lot, engine running. He looked nice in a suit with a red tie. After this long together he knew which color she would choose to wear. Her eyes wrinkled as she stepped in to the vehicle to kiss him hello. He looked at her momentarily and then met her over the console.

“Hi,” 

“Hey, babe. That’s a nice dress.” he glanced at her as he pulled into traffic. Asami glanced around as they drove. The silence was a weight on her shoulders and being in the passenger seat didn’t help ease the tension. She preferred to be driving.

“How was your week?” Asami turned to look at Iroh’s profile, appreciating his jawline. It tensed as he answered.

“Fine.”

“Anything interesting happen?”

Another quick clench of his teeth. “No.”

“Ok.” Asami groped for something to fill the air. “You should hear what happened with my dad this week. He -“

“Can we not talk about that,” Iroh cut her off, not really asking, as he reached to turn the radio on. He didn’t look at her as he returned his focus fully to the road.

Asami continued to look at him for a moment wondering why had reacted so suddenly to that. She worried her bottom lip as she looked out the passenger window. This dinner may end up going less well than she was hoping for and she hadn’t been hoping for much.

\-----

The restaurant was nice. They had been there previously and Asami thought the food was good and the wine was better. Iroh opened the door for her and let the hostess know that they had a reservation. They were led to small booth near the entrance to the kitchen and they sat themselves across from each other. Asami smiled at Iroh who returned it, but she couldn't see it in his eyes.

By the time the waitress came over to take their drink orders the lack of conversation meant that they had had more than enough time to decide what they wanted to eat as well. They ordered their drinks and all of their food and as the waitress walked away Asami spread her napkin on her lap gingerly and looked across the table at her date.

Iroh was playing with the bottom of his wine glass, glancing around the restaurant. “What are you thinking about?” Asami asked.

Iroh looked up at her as she spoke, barely meeting her eyes. “Nothing.” He paused seemingly searching for words. “How was your day?”

“It was fine.” Asami said tightly.

“Good. Did you talk to your father?” Iroh asked.

“Recently?” Asami paused as she accepted her salad from the waitress. “Not really. We don’t really have anything to talk about.”

“I’m sure you do though. The last conversation didn’t really come to any sort of conclusion and I know he wants to continue to discuss it.”

Asami couldn’t help her eyes from hardening. “It did come to a conclusion. I made my decision. I don’t plan to change it. We’ve talked about this. Multiple times even. I need to rehash it with you just as much as I need to rehash it with him.”

Asami looked away focusing on her food and Iroh seemed to do the same. They ate in silence for a long time as Asami fell into thoughts about the situation with her father. She was annoyed with Iroh. It didn’t seem as if he had listened to her at all when they discussed the original conversation with her father. She had explained her reasons for not wanting to take her father’s place. He should understand.

She cut at her meat looking up at him with a hard gaze. Why had he brought this up at dinner? Why would he want to discuss something that he knew would upset her on a date? The first date they had had in weeks? She paused her chewing, thinking.

He’d asked her out mid-week. She had attempted to discuss the issues she had had this week, specifically with her father and he had cut her off. Then, just now she had latched on to the first part of his response to her and reacted, but what had he said after that. What had she missed? _… I know he wants to continue to discuss it._

Asami was breathless for a moment, putting her fork down as she finished the bite she was chewing. She wasn’t quite sure how to approach this situation. How long had this been happening? She thought back to the first time she had met Iroh. Her father had introduced them and they had hit it off, but her father had been the one to insist that she continue to see him. _For appearances_ he had said.

Asami looked up at Iroh, studying his face. How had she not seen this? “Can I interest you in any dessert?” Asami startled at the waitress’ appearance. She looked up to see Iroh beginning to speak and cut him off.

“No, thank you. Just the check please.” Iroh looked at her questioningly, but he seemed to find something in her eyes that told him not to ask.

\-----

The car ride was, for the most part, silent. Iroh had attempted to coax Asami into speaking a few times, but had finally given up and turned on the radio. For Asami’s part she was seething and at the moment she wasn’t sure who she was more mad at – Iroh, her father, or herself for not realizing this sooner.

They pulled into the parking lot outside of her apartment and after putting the car into park he seemed to consider for a moment and then leaned in to kiss her good-bye.

“How long?” He paused in his approach, confused.

“What?”

“Have you always been in contact with my father about me?”

Iroh’s eyes widened. “Asami…”

“When did it start Iroh? Have you been on his payroll from the start? Did he promise you something? Did you ever like me at all?” her voice became sharper as she attempted to hold back the emotions welling up inside of her. She could feel her eyes burning and although she was mad she found that somewhere in there she was incredibly hurt as well.

“It’s not like that Asami. He just wants what’s best for you. He’s looking out…”

She turned on him. “He has no right to _look out_ for me. He lost that privilege a long time ago and if you knew anything about me, at all, then you would know that." Iroh reached for her and she shied away. "No. Please,” her voice broke and she took a breath to steady herself. “How long have you been speaking to him?”

Iroh sighed. “I don’t know Asami. Since… Since the beginning I guess.” Asami nodded slowly, breathing through her nose.

“Ok.”

“Ok?” his eyebrows rose

“Yes, ok.” Asami clenched her hands once, feeling the dig of her nails and taking a final breath. “We’re no longer together. Feel free to tell my father of this conversation. I won't contact you further. Have a good evening.” That said she moved to unlock her door, fumbling a bit with shaking hands.

She felt a hand on her bicep. “Asami. Really? That’s it?” She pulled away and barely paused as she moved to shut the door.

“Yes, that’s it.”

\-----

Asami walked quickly up the stairs towards her apartment, but as she reached the top she found that her breathing was coming more quickly and her hands were shaking harder than before.

How could her father do this? How could Iroh have done this? She knew that things weren’t perfect between them, but this? As she stopped in front of her door she reached for the knob, finding it locked and realizing that she hadn’t even moved to grab her keys. Of course it was still locked.

She reached into her purse searching for the metal key ring so that she could finally fall into bed with the chaos of feelings running through her. Her hand groped at the inside of her purse and she didn’t feel anything. She looked down into the purse and in a moment of frustration reached out to slam her hand against the door. The rush of feeling turned physical seemed to be her breaking point as a sob escaped from her.

Her vision blurred as she continued to attempt to find her keys, now reaching blindly around in her bag for them. By the time she came away with them tears were streaming and the sobbing had become constant. Loud and uncontrollable they shook her whole body and made actually unlocking her door incredibly difficult. When she finally got it open she stumbled in, throwing her items onto the counter and making her way into the bedroom.

Removing her shoes quickly she fell into bed, shaking. She had been angry initially and although she couldn’t deny that she was still angry now it wasn’t the feeling that was rending open her chest and making her head hurt. She couldn’t believe him. Either of them, but especially her father. How dare he take that freedom from her? Wasn’t his ignorance of her feelings enough without fabricating the feelings of others? Even if at one point Iroh’s interest had been genuine she couldn’t be sure and where did that leave her.

The conclusion came quickly and with another round of breathless crying. It left her where her father always left her – alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this, but it means we're moving in the right direction. I'm in the midst of writing the next chapter so hopefully will have it up soon.


End file.
